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Arapiles Chockstone Gathering 2008


wallwombat

16-Jun-2008
4:59:57 PM

On 12/06/2008 Capt_mulch wrote:
>God dammit! Two days back from Arapiles and the boss and I agree to 'part
>ways'. Two months good pay in the bank. I think I'm going back to Arapiles
>for a week! I wish it had happened last Thursday...

I'm with ya bro!

My contract ran out on Friday and I'm headed for some dirt-bagging bliss.


rhinckle

20-Jun-2008
10:57:00 PM

"rhinckle started acting wierd"

Over Saturday's earth
stumbled
in nocturnal drunken angry solitude.

(Within Sunday's hours
chockstoned
real names but secret identities
masons of the gums
mysterious
random
without ritual or handshake.)

Under Monday's sodden sky
found
the
most
beautiful
tent peg
i have ever seen.

widewetandslippery

22-Jun-2008
5:55:50 PM

M9, yep, thats the spider that jumped off the wood. Scary. Thought it was a frog and tried to rescue it.

kieranl

22-Jun-2008
9:23:33 PM

On 10/06/2008 Capt_mulch wrote:
> I ducked up and around
>the Didgeridoo pillar to find three people camped on top of the rap station
>which has about enough space on the associated knife edge ridge for a mountain
>goat. I didn’t think we were going to shift them quickly, so we decided
>to rap off the pine tree that is growing out of the center of the gully.
>I started to abseil down and dislodged some stones and yelled “Rock!!”.
>I thought that would clear out the crowd at the bottom of the crag, but
>it didn’t bring about much of a reaction. I looked back up at Mr Pip, who
>was sitting next to the pine tree rap station, when a fist sized rock came
>barreling past him, obviously dislodged by the climbers up behind us. The
>rock ricocheted a few times and then bounced out towards the base of the
>climb. At the same time Maddy, Bomber Pro and Jen’s very small and cute
>daughter (3yrs?) walked up the path and into the firing line.
I just got back from holidays a few days ago and read this TR and have been wondering what to say about this incident. Quite frankly it horrified me.
After your first climb on a popular cliff you decide that you can't be bothered waiting for the abseil route to be clear so set up your own impromptu abseil station.
What do you know : it happens to be in gully that is a funnel for rockfall.
You could have killed people and it seems that you came close to doing so.
Perhaps you could reflect on what happened here.
Did you stop to think why the rap-station for the Didgeridoo area is where it is? Did you consider that you were climbing on one of the most popular sections of cliff in the country and that people have had a lot of time to think about where to place abseil anchors? Did you think about how secure the tree-roots are? The anchors are out on the pinnacle to reduce the movement of ropes and people in the gully that you chose to abseil down.
Please, when you visit an unfamiliar area, especially one that's popular, show some respect and follow tracks and established abseil routes. Don't just go and blaze your own trail just because it's convenient. In this case you were lucky enough to get away with it but luck always runs out.


IdratherbeclimbingM9

23-Jun-2008
10:12:50 AM

On 22/06/2008 kieranl wrote:
>You could have killed people and it seems that you came close to doing so.

Capt_mulch can speak for himself, but I would like to point out that the rock in question came from higher up than his belay/abseil point.

Incidentally I was still nearby at the time, and the only warning I heard shouted was from Capt_mulch re that incident, which is possibly* a bit disappointing considering the actions of the higher party.
(*I would qualify this by also adding that my hearing is not what it used to be, and they may have warned the Capt.?).

Seeing the rock explode within a foot of Mady, I too was horrified; so in that respect you are right kieranl. It could easily have been a tragic outcome.

More than one rock came down that funnel that day, and I certainly appreciated the warnings given about them.

It amazes me how easily 'bad things', have the potential, 'to happen'.
Mady was under close supervision by her mum, and at one point in the day (while her mum climbed), also by myself. Sufficient debris had come down that chute earlier such that we (more than one party), had moved sideways to safer locations. Madys later return at that point was unexpected, and the timing was uncanny.

A moment of less than full attention can sometimes have bad consequences, but this is often not thought about beforehand (particularly by kids), ... and I am guilty of this myself !
As an example; earlier while belaying bomber pro I decided that simply my weight on the ground as his belayer, may not be enough, given the runout I saw evolving at the time. I bent down (still had bomber on belay and locked off), to free up with my other hand an additional sling from the rack, to connect to a nut I had put in for upward loading. Jen saw me fussing with this and helped out by freeing the tangled sling, thus allowing me to give full attention back to belaying at the time. This was an innocuous action on my part, but in hindsight had hidden potential to turn nasty?

Another point, that I could easily be wrong about due to insufficient local knowledge ...
Capt_mulch has written in his TR that the climb was Didgeridoo. My understanding is that the climb involved could actually be Hornpiece? Hornpipe??
Since I am not familiar with Didgeridoo and am only vaguely familiar with Hornpiece(?), this could make a difference to a readers perception of available belays used, etc; especially to the reader who has a more intimate knowledge of that area.
What I can say with certainty is that the rock came down the chute/gully immediately left (facing cliff), of the climb Jens Route (which is excellent for the grade); and that the climb C_m did, started up the face of the next pillar left (of that gully), then traversed off that pillar rightwards into the gully.


muki

23-Jun-2008
11:50:41 AM

Being Madeleine's dad I was horrified at the potential harm that she might have come to that day!
But am very thankful for the warning provided by Capt-mulch, without that shout of ROCK!, mady
would most likely be very seriously injured or even dead! the helmet would not have helped much at all
considering the size of the rock compared to her mass, and the speed at witch it was travelling.
The very quick and timely warning from Capt-mulch was what allowed Jen to shout to mady to STOP!
and thankfully she did that immediately, as well as covering her face! she is a fast learner and has
seen us do the same when confronted with a call of ROCK!
I would like to thank Capt-mulch again, and publicly, here on this site, without the warning things would
have been very different, the rock was dislodged by a group of 3 young girls left to there own devises
on a ledge at the base of Tanin by the father and his mate, there were no tethers from the belay to
these girls and they were allowed to roam the ledge "playing" while the father belayed his mate up the
climb, this was highly dangerous in itself let alone the ramifications of there subsequent actions.
as was said on an earlier post, the bumbley count was pretty high over the long weekend, but thank
god that Capt-mulch was aware of the situation and provided an adequate warning for us at the base
when the rock fall (that was in no way his fault) occurred.
Cheers Nick, I owe you a big one, Kind regards Muki


muki

23-Jun-2008
12:02:32 PM

And I just thought that I might add that the reason Capt-mulch was unable to gain the rap station at the
top of the digeridoo column was because the party of 5 had ignored the belay bolts and were belaying
and anchored to the rap station, very inconsiderate and thoughtless on such a busy day, especially when
there are three new stainless steel rings right along side the rap station!


Capt_mulch

24-Jun-2008
8:05:59 AM

Such kind words in my defence by all! Be a father of two myself, I still have nightmares about the incident.


IdratherbeclimbingM9

24-Jun-2008
10:54:28 AM

Sh!t happens.
... but having said that, I still think kieranl has made some valid points; ... and for both safety and cliff care reasons, should generally be adhered to.
There will always be exceptions, but this is what makes the game an interesting one, does it not?

... Best not become complacent, for as kieranl points out;
>lucky enough to get away with it but luck always runs out.

Amongst the things I have learned from all this ...

*Don't climb below another party (reconfirmed).
*Wear a helmet (reconfirmed).
*Have enough skills/tricks in the bag to be adaptable to changing situations (reconfirmed).
*Climb with good company (preferably those who are knowledgable about call signs etc), ... (reconfirmed)!
*Educate the less experienced in your party re potential dangers and safe practices, ... particularly children. (reconfirmed).
*Stay away from the base of obvious descent routes (and underneath abseilers), unless there is a compelling reason not to! (reconfirmed).
*Be prepared to consider/accept, the advice/constructive criticism, of other climbers, ...before/during/after an incident. (reconfirmed).

New word-work-out for the week;
'horrified'
... ~> hope not to have to use it again!
Heh, heh, heh.

One Day Hero

25-Jun-2008
2:22:28 AM

On 22/06/2008 kieranl wrote:
>I just got back from holidays a few days ago and read this TR and have
>been wondering what to say about this incident. Quite frankly it horrified
>me.
>After your first climb on a popular cliff you decide that you can't be
>bothered waiting for the abseil route to be clear so set up your own impromptu
>abseil station.
>What do you know : it happens to be in gully that is a funnel for rockfall.
>You could have killed people and it seems that you came close to doing
>so.
>Perhaps you could reflect on what happened here.
>Did you stop to think why the rap-station for the Didgeridoo area is where
>it is? Did you consider that you were climbing on one of the most popular
>sections of cliff in the country and that people have had a lot of time
>to think about where to place abseil anchors? Did you think about how secure
>the tree-roots are? The anchors are out on the pinnacle to reduce the movement
>of ropes and people in the gully that you chose to abseil down.
>Please, when you visit an unfamiliar area, especially one that's popular,
>show some respect and follow tracks and established abseil routes. Don't
>just go and blaze your own trail just because it's convenient. In this
>case you were lucky enough to get away with it but luck always runs out.

You know why the organ pipes is one of the most popular bits of rock in the county Kieran?

It's because it's a numpty paradise! There's good rock, good gear, easy routes, lot's of other numptys about so you get that 'safety in numbers' feeling. People who don't know what the f--- they're doing come from all over the country to try and learn a bit about what the f--- they're doing. Once one knows what the f--- one is doing, one does not frequent the organ pipes, does one?

I reckon it's a bit rich to hack into Mulchy about being unsafe when he obviously doesn't know any better. The only way anyone's going to learn about skanky, shallow rooted trees and chossy, funnel gullys is to rap down a couple and have a bad time. That's how I learned, now I stay away from the f---in' things. I suspect Mulchy will stay away from them in future, which is a good thing, something was learned.

If everyone followed your rules and belayed off these bolts, and rapped off that chain, and for god's sake don't walk down the gully because you'll defoliate it (never mind that a thousand routes have been deliberately denuded, we MUST protect the gullies)............no numpty would ever learn a farkin thing, except how to do what they're told!


IdratherbeclimbingM9

25-Jun-2008
8:48:33 AM

On 25/06/2008 One Day Hero wrote:
>You know why the organ pipes is one of the most popular bits of rock in
>the county Kieran?

>It's because it's a numpty paradise!

(snip)

>The only way anyone's going to learn about skanky, shallow rooted trees and chossy, funnel gullys is to rap down a couple and have a bad time.

New meaning is added (from a Canberra connection), to thread title of Chockstone Gathering*.
~> Kinda reminds me of a choirboys song (with apologies for the lyric corruption) ...

Good chockstones, why'd I let 'em slip away
Why'd I let them slip away
Cause I climbed in Paradise
Run from Paradise!
Run from Paradise!!
Run from Paradise!!!

*We had a good collection of them by the fence dividing the track from the Gums Campsite by the end of the w/end.

Heh, heh, heh.


Capt_mulch

25-Jun-2008
10:58:17 AM

Why does reading One Day Zero's posts always give me that s(t)inking feeling? If only he could come out and admit who he really is...

There are 32 messages in this topic.